First off, I wanted to share this infographic created by KForce, one of the staffing agencies that handles large corporate accounts. Take a moment and look it over. You’ll probably notice that architect positions and mobile developers are in high demand, which is supported by the high wages.

Hot Jobs in Tech

While the location matters to a certain degree, the key is that these are the top tech skill areas. Even without these specific skill sets, people in tech earn an average of roughly $88,000 a year (BLS). With the average American household earning a median of roughly $50,000 annually (Wikipedia), it becomes apparent that tech is a way out of the conundrum of low or stagnate wages.

Another critical element to consider is that of unemployment. It could be ventured that technology (and perhaps STEM in general) forms a kind of mirror economy, one that reflects a different world for those whom live here. I’m speaking of the unemployment rate for IT staff. For college grads, the unemployment rate is roughly 4%. For skilled technology workers, the unemployment rate hovers around 1-2%, depending on the skill set and experience level.

Working in tech on predictive modeling projects, executive level summaries, and key indicator methods, I can see that the world I live in is different. The mirror economy of technology is one where recruiters contact you daily trying to fill job spots, and the level of vacant positions is 1:2. That’s right: there are two open positions for each person who can do the work properly. This is a primary reason that the technology world is a Bizarro employment/economic market. It’s a land of opportunity, even while the rest of the globe slowly lumbers under youth unemployment and stagnate economic growth.